


A picture's worth a thousand words

by Iridescent_Slumber



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Domestic Jemily, F/F, Jemily - Freeform, because i want them to be a happy family, doing happy family things, it's fluffy, they're just a happy family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:00:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27341623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iridescent_Slumber/pseuds/Iridescent_Slumber
Summary: Based on a prompt about couples posting photos on social media.JJ and Emily spend a lovely day with the kids.
Relationships: Jennifer "JJ" Jareau/Emily Prentiss
Comments: 4
Kudos: 63





	A picture's worth a thousand words

Emily Prentiss is not very good with social media. That’s not to say she doesn’t have accounts, she does, she just doesn’t use them all that often. Reasons for this will vary depending on who’s being asked. Rossi is likely to explain this with a conversation they once had about Emily preferring hand written letters from her friends to a DM. Penelope believes the aversion is because she won’t take the time to actually learn how to use the platforms, despite her offering tech support. Derek thinks it’s because she likes her privacy and isn’t particularly interested in sharing every aspect of her life on the internet. Spencer’s explanation involves too many statistics.

JJ, however, loves Instagram. She isn’t too bothered with Facebook or Twitter, but Insta? That’s the social media platform for her. Not only does she have so much to capture on camera; her family, her friends, the beautiful scenery she stumbles upon on her jogs, she likes the simplicity of sharing these images online like a digital scrap book. 

She began private Instagram accounts for both Henry and Michael when they were born, cataloguing their childhoods in a unique way that meant by the time they were old enough, they would be able to take over the accounts. It was novel, she realised, but it seemed like a really cool and contemporary way to document their childhoods. 

While she isn’t particularly interested in posting photos online, Emily adores taking photos. She’s usually the one suggesting a photo opportunity, often snapping selfies of her and the team when they’re at Rossi’s, or asking one of them to take a cute photo of her and JJ, because they dressed up and look too good to not immortalise on camera. She’ll often whip out her phone to take pictures of Henry and Michael playing together, or JJ snoozing on the sofa. Her favourite type of photo is a candid shot, so she takes them of the people she loves as often as she can, always carefully and tactfully walking the line between being in the moment, and wanting to capture the moment. 

One day, the had decided to take the kids out on an activity trail, one of those ones where you go on a hike and the children have a treasure hunt to do along the way. It seemed like a fun way to spend some much needed quality time together whilst also getting the boys to burn off some of their near endless energy. JJ had prepared a packed lunch for them all so that they could sit in the picnic area and eat lunch halfway through the trail. Thankfully the weather looked like it would stay dry, a couple of clouds scattered across the sky but nothing that seemed too drastic. 

Packing the car with all the essentials, the little family set off on their adventure for the day. It didn’t take long to drive to their destination, and once they’d parked up, JJ and Emily grabbed a bag and a child each. Collecting a treasure map from the kiosk at the beginning of the trail, they let the boys run ahead to try and find the first activity. 

They walked in comfortable silence behind Henry and Michael, who weren’t too far ahead, hand in hand, just enjoying the fresh air and each other’s company. 

Spotting the first challenge, Emily watched as Henry read the instructions to Michael, stopping to spell out the words he didn’t know until he could work out what it said. 

JJ smiled down at her children, so proud of Henry for being such a good big brother. Turning to her wife, her heart swelled, her life was so full of love, she couldn’t believe it sometimes. 

Noticing that JJ was looking at her, Emily turned her attention to the blonde, meeting her smile with her own. 

“How long do you think it’ll take them?” Emily asked, nodding her head over to the two boys who were searching around the trees for their next clue. 

“The longer the better, I’m enjoying this.” JJ replied, taking the opportunity to pull out a bottle of water from one of the bags and take a long drink. She casually offered it to Emily, who took a sip before handing it back, and watching as she screwed the lid back on. 

Pulling her phone out, Emily began to snap some photos of the boys who had finally found the clue they were looking for. Unable to resist the opportunity, the brunette took a couple of steps back, raising the camera so that JJ was in the shot. The result was a lovely photo of JJ, facing the boys, framed with the beautiful trees and shrubbery of the forest. The light was catching on the blonde’s hair, causing it to almost sparkle, JJ was honestly breathtaking. Why she chose to share her life with Emily remained a mystery to the older woman, but whatever the reason was, Emily knew she would never question how she managed to get so lucky, or what she did to deserve this family. 

A little while later, with the boys successfully finding the next three clues, it was finally time to eat. Coming across the clearing, they took a seat on one of the wooden benches, unpacking their rucksacks and digging in. Emily couldn’t help herself, taking more action shots of the boys as they happily chomped on their sandwiches and sipped from their juice cartons. 

There was an ice-cream stand at the edge of the clearing, and as the kids had eaten all of their lunches, JJ had gone to treat them all to a cone. Returning with the goods, she handed one each to the boys, laughing as then enthusiastically thanked her and took no time in devouring the sweet treat. 

“I didn’t really fancy a whole one, so I hope you don’t mind sharing.” JJ said, carefully licking along the side of the chocolate ice-cream before reaching it out for Emily to grab. 

“Sounds good to me!” Emily replied, leaning down to take some of the cool cream from the cone, not bothering to take it from her wife’s hand, humming as it slipped into her mouth and down her throat.

Once the ice-creams were all but gone, the boys stood up to play a quick game of tag. Intently watching them run around, squealing with excitement, JJ didn’t notice she had ice cream on her chin. Emily knew exactly what to do when she saw the streaks underneath JJ’s mouth, once more pulling her phone out and capturing the blonde on camera. 

JJ spun to face Emily, who was laughing at how adorable the photo she’d taken had turned out. 

“What’s so funny?” JJ questioned, still blissfully unaware of the marks on her face. 

“You uh, you missed your mouth a bit there Jayje.” Emily puffed out between giggles. 

Gasping JJ threw a fake glare at the brunette, grabbing for the phone to see for herself. Gasping again, she threw a hand up to her chin using her sleeve to wipe at the mess she had seen resting on her chin in the photo. 

Continuing to laugh, Emily took her phone back from JJ before she had chance to delete the photo. Making a mental note to post it in the BAU group chat later, Emily placed her phone down on the table and reached out to still the blonde’s arm, pulling it down and replacing it with her own. 

“I got you,” Emily said, wiping away the remaining ice cream from her wife’s chin, still unable to contain her giggles. 

“There, I got almost all of it.” She stated, matter of factly. 

“What do you mean, almost all of it?” JJ exclaimed, her eyes shooting up to meet the older woman’s, challenging her with screwed up eyebrows. 

Rather than replying, Emily leaned forwards, poking her tongue out for a quick taste before sucking on the final bit of ice-cream that was stubbornly stuck to the corner of JJ’s mouth. Tasting the chocolatey goodness on her lovers mouth, she couldn’t help herself, claiming JJ’s lips with her own, slowly enjoying the way the chocolate was complementing the taste of the other woman’s lips. 

So engrossed in the sensation of kissing JJ clean, Emily hadn’t noticed that the younger woman had sneaked her own phone off the table. Before she could object, JJ took a cute photo of the two of them kissing. The sound of the pretend shutter brought Emily to her senses, forcing her to break away from the blonde to see what was happening. 

JJ sat there with a grin from ear to ear at the questioning look on Emily’s face. 

“What? You’re not the only one who gets to take photos,” JJ offered, turning the phone so Emily could see the picture of them kissing. 

“I guess it’s kinda cute?” Emily stated, still unsure as to why on earth JJ had decided to take the photo, but secretly thrilled that it had happened. 

Before they could discuss anymore, they heard their sons shouting for their mommies, encouraging them to hurry up so they could finish the trail. With no objection from the women, they quickly cleaned up, forgetting about the photo that had just been taken. 

Arriving home that evening after a long day of running around, climbing on things, chasing each other, and a lot of laughter, it wasn’t long before the boys were in bed, each clutching at their prizes from the treasure hunt. 

Pouring a glass of red wine for them both, Emily waited in the lounge for the return of her wife, making herself comfortable on their sofa, swiftly pulling her phone out to pass the time. Deciding to have a rare scroll through Instagram, she found herself smiling fondly at a selfie of Penelope, Luke, and Roxie, double tapping to express her approval. The next photo was one Derek had posted of Hank with a football in his arms, he was getting so big now, Emily could hardly believe it, she liked it and scrolled again. She was greeted with a photo of Henry with his arm around Michael’s shoulder, both boys boasting with their medals from the treasure hunt. Her smile reached her eyes as she just admired the photo of their sons.

Realising there was more than one picture posted, Emily scrolled to the left, enjoying the next picture of the boys both crouching to look at a clue intently. Taking a sip from her glass, she scrolled once more and almost choked on her wine as she saw the photo of her and JJ kissing on her phone screen. 

It was at this moment JJ made her presence known, clearing her throat to grab Emily’s attention. 

“Whatcha doing?” She asked with a mocking tone to her voice, knowing full well what Emily was doing, she’d been stood in the room for a good minute, watching her wife scroll through the photos of their sons. 

“Uhh, Jayje, did you... did you mean to post this?” Emily reached the phone out to show JJ the picture in question. 

Taking the phone and the wine glass from her wife, JJ gently sat down beside her, placing the glass on the coffee table and pulling her legs up so she could sit facing her. 

“Yeah, why?” JJ asked, looking at the photo and smiling to herself. 

Surprised that JJ wasn’t embarrassed by the photo being shared publicly, and by how calmly she’d responded, Emily wasn’t really sure where to go from there. Clearly it wasn’t a big deal to the blonde, and knowing that it was intentionally posted, Emily relaxed a little bit. 

“Huh, I don’t know... I just thought that it was an accident.” Emily looked into her wife’s eyes, smiling as she saw the unfiltered love swimming in them. 

“Baby, I want the world to know you’re mine.” The blonde replied.

And with that, JJ slipped into Emily’s lap, leaving the phone where she had been sat. Placing her knees either side of Emily’s thighs, she locked her hands behind her wife’s neck and brought her forehead to rest against the other woman’s. 

Emily’s hands instinctively clutched at JJ’s hips, pulling her closer. She slipped her thumbs under the edge of her lover’s top and began tracing slow circles against the silky skin there. 

Lifting her chin so their lips were almost touching, Emily couldn’t help but gulp at the intensity of JJ’s stare. 

Just before their lips connected, Emily breathed in. 

“Jennifer Jareau, a picture's worth a thousand words, but here are four: I am _forever_ yours.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I really appreciate the comments you've been leaving for me, it's motivated me to keep going :)


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